Behind the Scenes | Monday, February 20, 2017
SGNA Roundtable
SGNA Editor
The field of gastroenterology is an ever-changing field. To truly excel in your profession, it helps to approach these changes within your team to acknowledge just what those changes may be, and what expectations are being placed on both you and your team.
What changes are you seeing in the field of gastroenterology? How has your team helped transition and implement those changes?
Previously, we published insights from Michelle Day, MSN, RN, CGRN; Laura Habighorst, BSN, RN, CGRN; and Michelle Juan, MSN, RN, CGRN on the role of nurses in gastroenterology, the new expectations one can expect to see in the field and how this will impact the future of nursing. This week will build off their responses and explore how the new expectations they are noticing in the field will impact the future of nursing.
This week’s question is:
How will new expectations continue to impact the future of nursing?
Michelle Day: The changing healthcare environment and the expectation of nurses to be able to successfully provide evidence-based care will require increased capacity of the educational system. The system lacks adequate numbers of instructors, updated technology and research support. We must also identify innovations to increase the number of advanced practice nurses. Additionally, we need continued support from government organizations with increased scholarships, load forgiveness and investment in nursing research.
Laura Habighorst: While computerization has changed the personal patient care we used to give, I believe it has helped to make information and data sharing easier. We can find out with just a few short clicks what the latest research in disease processes and care is recommending. No longer must we depend on anecdotal evidence to support what we do. The evidence is easily obtained and our knowledge base can grow. We have to learn how to interpret data and obtain that data.
The one thing I worry about is the personal touch that the nurse used to have time to give. We do not have that anymore and I miss it.
We have to figure out a way in our schools to teach the importance of the rules, as well as the importance of the person. I know this sounds really philosophical but we have to remember the patient, not that our goal is to get one year of medsurg, move to the ICU and then move to CRNA school. I admire those with that goal but the person they are providing care for may not admire that goal so much. I have been nursing for 30 years and, yes, it has changed; technology has been great, but it has also been difficult.
Michelle Juan:
- Infection Prevention will always be important and changing. New “super bugs” will emerge and nursing will continue to be on the front-end of helping keep our patients safe. Nursing will continue to focus on quality measure and using evidence-based research to help guide future practices.
- There is no doubt that more technology will come in the future. How we diagnose, treat and even see patients will change with advancing technologies. Future EMRs who talk to each other is good for the patients and the nurses. Integrated systems make it easier to help patients by knowing what treatments were prescribed and where (what facility or MD office) the patient has recently received care. Future nurses will be very comfortable using electronic means of charting and communicating with the patient. I think we will see an increase in telemedicine or video chat with triage nurses as well.
- Nursing education will likely shift and change to mirror the new needs future nurses will face.